Moistening device.



Patented Dec. l6, I902.

H. cLounE. MOISTENING DEVICE:

(Application filed Mar. 81, 1902.)

' Uivrrsn sum HARRY M. OLOUDE, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

MOISTENING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 716,191, dated December16, 1902. Application filed March 31,1902. Serial No. 100,878. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that LHARRY M. CLOUDE, a citizen of the United StatesofAmerica, and a resident of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton andState of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMoistening Devices, of which the following is a specification. I

This invention relates to certain improvements in moistening devices,and more particularly in that class of moistening devices which areespecially designed for use in shrinking cloth; and the object of theinvention is to provide a device of this general character of a simpleand inexpensive nature and of a strong,compact, and durableconstruction. by means of which cloth or other I material in sheet formmaybe conveniently and uniformly moistened without danger of beingcrumpled orwrinkled up or of being.

stretched or pulled out of shape.

The. invention consists in certain novel features of theconstruction,combination,and arrangement of the several parts of theimproved moisteningdevice, whereby certain important advantages areattained and the device is made simpler, cheaper, and otherwise betteradapted and more convenient for use, all as will be hereinafter fullyset forth.

The novel features of the invention will be carefully definedintheclaims.

Inthe accompanyingdrawings,which serve, to illustrate myinvention,Figurc1 is an end view showing'amoistening device constructedaccording to my invention, and Fig. 2 is a transverse section takenvertically through the device and showing the construction of theseveral parts thereof. Fig. 3 is an enlarged partial section takenvertically through one end portion of the improved moistening device inthe plane indicated by the line a a in Fig. 1. Fig. 4; is an enlargedpartial section taken vertically through an end portion of the device inthe plane indicated by the line b b in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is an enlargeddetail view showing the construction and arrangement of the bearingandtension devices of the improved moistener.

As shownin the views,:the improved moistening device comprises a tank 1,herein shown as rectangular in form and open at top, the width of thetank being at least equal to the width of the cloth or other sheetmaterial to be moistened. At the ends of the tank 1 are arrangedbrackets 2 of exactly similar form, such brackets having at their lowerparts lugs 3, through which may be passed screws or equivalent devicesfor holding the brackets upon the ends of a base-board 4:, extendedbeneath the tank 1. Where desired, this base-board 4 may be omitted,andthe brackets may in such. cases be screwed or bolted directly upon atable or other support on which the tank is to be rested. In thedrawings the tank 1 is shown with one side made shallower, as indicatedat 5, and this portion I will call the drip portion of the tank, sinceit is designed to receive the drippings from the moistened cloth orother material.

6 and 7 indicate reels or carriers of similar construction, these reelsor carriers being mounted to turn above the tank, the reel 6 beingmounted at some elevation above the shallower drip portion 5 of the tankand being adapted to support the cloth or other material to bemoistened, andthe reel 7 being arranged at the deeper portion of thetank 1 and being also adapted to dip within the water or other liquidheld in said tank, as indicated in the sectional view Fig. 2.

Each reel or carrier has at opposite ends studs 8, engaged with hearings9; integrally formed upon the upright portions or posts 12 of thebrackets2, and said studs have outer endportions which are squared, asshown at 10, and project outside their bearings 9 in position to receivea-detachable crank-handle 11, by means of whichvthe carriers. or reelsmaybe caused to rotate in the bearings ot' the frames or brackets 2.

Each reel or carrier is formed at its end with a yoke orconnecting-piece 1.3,upon which the stud 8 at that end of the reel isintegrally formed, and the ends of said yokes 13 are bent at rightangles, as shown M14, and are countersunk in the outer surfaces of sidebars or rails 15, spaced apart an'd'forming the central portion of thereel, the rails being secured to said bent ends 14: of the yokes bymeans of screws 16 or equivalent means. In this way it will be seen thateach carrier or reel is given. a flattened form, and the structure isgiven a maximum of strength and simplicity, with sufficient strength towithstand all strains upon it.

1'7 indicates an apron formed of a long strip of sheet material,preferably of some cloth, as duck or canvas, the end portionsof whichare secured to the respective carriers or reels 6 and 7 and are adaptedto be Wound thereon, as indicated at 18 in the drawings, the arrangementbeing such that when one of the carriers or reels is turned by meansofthe crank-handle 11 the apron 17is unwound from the other reel orcarrier and is wound upon that reel or carrier to which the crank-handleis connected. In this way it will be seen that the crank-handle may beapplied to one reel or carrier to wind the apron in one direction andmay then be applied to the other reel or carrier to wind the apron in anopposite direction. 1

The reel or carrier 6 is at a higher elevation than the reel 7,and inorder to cause the apron to extend from said reel 6 in substantially ahorizontal plane to the opposite edge of the tank 1 and above the reel 7I provide at said opposite edge of the tank at which the cloth or othermaterial to be moistened is received and discharged an idler-roll 19,having at its ordinary ends studs 20, mounted to turn in bearings 21 onuprights of the frames or brackets 2, and the central portion of theapron 17 is adapted to be passed around said idler-roll during itstravel from one carrier or reel to the other. At the said receiving anddischarging side or edge of the tank the wall 27 thereof is also made ofincreased height, so as to be closely adjacent to the lower run of theapron 17, in positionto strip off the cloth or other sheet materialtherefrom when the apron 17 is unwound from the reel 6 and wound on thereel 7, so that the cloth is prevented from being carried around thesaid lower run of the apron and wound upon the reel 7. By means of saidraised wall 27 of the tank the cloth or other sheet material is strippedoff from the apron and is caused to fall down outside of the tank 1, aswill be readily understood.

For simplicity of manufacture I prefer to form the bearings 9 and 21 ofthe brackets 2 with openings 23 at their tops and on their outer sidesand with similar openings 24. at their bottoms and upon their innersides, so that the finishing of the hearings to receive the moving partsof the device is greatly simplified and cheapened. The bearings are alsoconstructed to overhang on the inner sides of the frames or brackets 2,as indicated at 22 in the drawings, and the overhanging portions 22 ofthe bearings for the ends of the reel or carrier 7 are at anelevationsuch that their under sides rest on the top edges of the wallsof the tank at the ends thereof, as shown at Fig. 3, whereby the saidreel or carrier is permitted to turn freely within the tank, theoverhang of the bearings thereof insuring a proper space between theends of the said reel and the end walls of the tank.

To prevent undue looseness and rattling of the reels or carriers 6 and7, I prefer to provide these parts with tension devices, which may be ofany preferred construction. A preferred form of tension device isillustrated in Figs. 1 and 5 and comprises a spring, one end of which isbent to produce two arms 24, which are perforated for the passage of anadjusting-screw 25, by means of which the tension upon the reel may beregulated. The other end of the spring is bent, as shown at 26, and isadapted to be passed down in the opening 23 at the top of the bearing 9,and in said opening is adapted to engage the stud 8 of the reel and topress frictionally thereonto prevent looseness and rattling. In this waythe reels are caused to turn smoothly and when rotated will stand at anyposition in which they are adjusted and will not swing back to avertical position, such as they would otherwise assume, owing to theirflattened forms.

In using the improved moistening device, when it is desired to moisten asheet of mate rial-as cloth, for example-40 be shrunk one end portion ofsaid sheet is laid evenly upon the horizontal portion of the apron 17,as indicated at a: in Fig. 1, after which the reel or carrier 6 isrotated by means of the crank-handle applied at the end thereof in suchaway as to draw the end of said sheet of material over into the bight ofsaid reel, as indicated at y in Fig. 1, whereupon the said sheet iswound upon the carrier or reel with each of its turns interposed betweentwo turns of the wet or moistened apron 17, so that the sheet of clothor other material is thoroughly and uniformly moistened throughout itsentire surface and is at the same time held in a straight rolledcondition upon the reel or carrier, so that it is prevented from beingcreased or wrinkled up or from being pulled or stretched out of shape.After the cloth has been permitted to remain upon the reel for asufficient time to permit the water to permeate it the crankhandle 11 isapplied to the other reel 7, and said reel is turned to move the apronin an opposite direction, so that the sheet of cloth is withdrawn fromthe reel 6 andis discharged over the edge of the tank 1 upon a table orother support suitably arranged, the raised wall 27 of the tank 1 atthat side serving to strip the cloth from the apron and prevent it fromadhering thereto. The reel 7, since it turns within the water in thetank 1, insures that the apron will be maintained at all times moist andwet, so as to be ready for use without preparation, since in removingthe cloth from the device the apron is always wound upon the reel 7.

From the above description it will be seen that the improved moisteningdevice is of an extremely simple and inexpensive construction and isespecially well adapted for use in moistening or sponging cloth to beshrunk,

since by its use the cloth is thoroughly and uniformly moistened withoutbeing pulled out of shape, and it will also be obvious from theabovedescription that the device is capable of some modification withoutmaterial departure from the principles and spirit of the invention, andfor this reason I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to theprecise form and arrangement of the several parts of the improved deviceas herein set forth.

, Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Pat- 1. In a moistening device, the combination of two reelsmounted to turn, tension devices for holding the reels against excessivemovement, an apron the ends of which are connected to and adapted to bewound on the respective reels, means for moistening the apron, means fordriving the reels and a device for stripping sheet material from theapron, and comprising a flat, stationary part one edge of which isengaged with the apron, substantially as set forth.

2. In a moistening device, the combination of two reels mounted to turn,an apron the endsof which are connected to and adapted to a be wound onthe respective reels, means for moistening said apron, means fordriving, the

reels, an idler-roll around which the central portion of the apronbetween the reels is bent and a stripping device formed of a part oneedge of which is arranged closely adjacent to said apron, at the bightthereof for stripping material from the apron, substantially as setforth.

3. In a moistening device, the combination of a tank one wall of whichis extended upwardly, an idler-roll mounted to turn adja cent to saidupwardly-extended wall of the tank, a reel mounted to turn at theopposite side of the tank, another reel below the firstmentioned reeland between it and the idlerroll and mounted to turn and adapted to dipin liquid in the tank, an apron the ends of which are connected to andadapted to be wound on the respective reels and the central portion ofwhich is passed around the idler-roll and above and closely adjacent tosaid upwardly-extended wall of the tank and means for driving the reels,substantially as set forth.

4. In a moistening device, the combination of a tank, brackets at theends of said tank and formed with bearings the outer sides of which areopen at their tops and the inner sides of which are open at theirbottoms,

'reels having studs engaged with and adapted to turn in said bearings,an apronthe ends of which are connected to and adapted to be wound onthe respective reels, one reel being arranged to dip in liquid in saidtank and means for driving said reels, substantially as set forth.

Signed at Cincinnati, Ohio, this 28th day of March, 1902.

HARRY M. CLOUDE.

Witnesses: J OHN ELIAS J ONES, J. D. THORNE.

